Report on Citizenship Law: Afghanistan the child is born via a “true marriage.”15 This means that if a child is born outside of a marriage relationship and if the marriage does not occur according to Sharia jurisprudence, the baby can acquire neither Afghan citizenship nor a national identity card unless the parents prove that the marriage was conducted according to Sharia and the child is that of the parents. Thus, according to the law on citizenship of Afghanistan, being a legitimate child is the basis for citizenship by origin. The law on citizenship does not explicitly provide for the acquisition of citizenship by adoption. Ius soli was formally recognised in the 1936 law on citizenship, which was enacted after the United Nations adopted the 1930 Hague Convention. The ius soli principle applies in cases of children born or found in Afghan territory with unknown or stateless parents, as well as to children born to foreign parents. Citizenship of a person born to foreign citizens: children who are born to foreign parents in Afghanistan can obtain the citizenship of Afghanistan provided that: 1) the child intends to permanently reside in Afghanistan after reaching the age of eighteen; and 2) the child does not apply for his or her parents’ citizenship within six months of reaching the age of eighteen.16 Apart from this conditional application of the ius soli principle, there is an exceptional rule covering children born in Afghanistan to persons working in diplomatic missions, foreign consulates and international organisations. The second clause of Article 13 stipulates that children of delegates, heads and members of foreign diplomatic and consular missions and international organisations are excluded from acquisition iure soli. Citizenship of a baby with unknown parents found in Afghan territory: under Article 15(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) “everyone has the right to a nationality,” and Article 24(3) of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that “every child has the right to acquire a nationality.” As Afghanistan has acceded to the ICCPR and has recognised the UDHR, the legislator formulated a provision to avoid statelessness. Thus, under Article 12 of the law on citizenship, if a child is found in the territory of Afghanistan and his or her parents’ documents prove that their citizenship is not available, the child is considered a citizen of Afghanistan. Afghanistan does not have a well-structured system of registration of births among its population. Most people do not apply for a tazkira for their children until they reach the age of 7 years or are enrolled in school. Moreover, the method for proving your identity in Afghanistan is normally to prove your relationship with your father or grandfather. Therefore, in order to prevent statelessness and to confirm the identity of stateless children, the legislator has made a reference to the child’s parents. The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons provides guiding principles for countries to support stateless persons. According to this convention, stateless persons are entitled to equal rights in relation to religious practice and the right to education of their children. In order to support stateless persons, the Afghan legislator considers them to be Afghan citizens so that they can enjoy equal rights and opportunities as provided to all citizens. Naturalisation is another way of acquiring the citizenship of Afghanistan. All foreign persons who meet the requirements can apply through the regular procedure for naturalisation. To avoid any kind of discrimination based on sex, education or race, the Afghan legislator allows applications by both foreign male and female applicants. People 15 Article 218 literally provides that “the child of a spouse via a true marriage depends on the husband.” Article 13 of the law on citizenship stipulates that “a child born to foreign parents in the territory of Afghanistan will, after reaching the age of eighteen and having the intention to permanently live in Afghanistan, be considered a citizen of Afghanistan unless he or she asks for the citizenship of a foreign country up to six month after reaching the age of eighteen.” 16 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/9 - © 2017 Author 9